Neighborhood residents object to council committee processes, P&Z composition

Neighborhood residents have registered an objection to the process used to choose the newest members of the city’s Planning & Zoning Commission.

The seven residents weighed in through a letter submitted today by email to the members of Springfield City Council and Mayor Jeff Schrag.

The letter signers are Linda Simkins, Delaware neighborhood; David and Vicky Trippe, Phelps Grove; Maggie Castrey, Kevin Evans and Nancy Williams, University Heights; and William Cooper, Seminole-Holland.

The letter provided to Springfield Business Journal states that council’s Public Involvement Committee appoints members to most boards. That committee includes Councilmember Derek Lee as chair and members Abe McGull, Brandon Jenson and Bruce Adib-Yazdi.

On Dec. 11, the letter states, the PIC met to consider reappointments of P&Z members Chris Lebeck and Betty Ridge and a replacement for Bruce Colony, but rather than reappointing, the committee made three new appointments: David Jacquez, Jennifer McClure and Chris Souliere.

“Lebeck, Ridge and Colony, all willing to serve, could have been appointed to serve the remaining three years of their four-year term,” the letter states. “All three were up for reappointment (or replacement).”

According to the PIC minutes of Dec. 12, 2024, PIC decided to stagger terms so that Colony’s second term and Lebeck’s first term would both expire Jan. 1, 2026. That is when Ridge’s term was scheduled to expire.

The letter alleges that at the time of their appointments, Jacquez and an existing commission member, Carl Knuckles, were not qualified to serve – Jacquez because of delinquent city and county personal property taxes from 2024 and Knuckles because he has purchased and moved to a home in unincorporated Greene County and no longer meets residency requirements.

The letter requests that the appointments of Jacquez and Knuckles be reconsidered and that the two be removed if they did not meet qualifications at the time of their appointments.

The letter writers also note that the current P&Z represents only two council zones, Zones 2 and 4, while the charter requires that “as far as practical, membership of boards and committees shall be representative of the various parts of the city.” No P&Z member lives north of St. Louis Street or west of Campbell, and four live in central Springfield, including two in Rountree, with three in the city’s southeast area.

The letter states that it is traditional to reappoint commissioners to retain institutional knowledge and continuity, particularly as the Forward SGF comprehensive plan and new land development code are being implemented.

“In this instance, the commission lost the expertise of a construction manager, an attorney and a retired journalist and replaced them with a Realtor, a former Chamber employee and a home builder,” the letter states. “The home builder serves on the local (Home Builders Association of Greater Springfield) board and the Realtor serves on the Greater Springfield Board of Realtors and the state Board of Realtors.”

The letter takes issue with the mayor participating and voting as a member of the Public Involvement Committee. It notes that at the Dec. 11 meeting, Lee, McGull and Jenson were present and Adib-Yazdi was absent, but the votes for the new appointments were all 4-0, with Mayor Schrag participating in the vote.

“Since Schrag was sworn in as a mayor, he has attended only three of 15 council committee meetings,” the letter states, listing them.

“It is believed the mayor is ‘stacking’ council committees (and as alleged by at least one council member) and attending select council committee meetings to exercise power for political purposes,” the letter states, adding, “By voting as an ex officio member, we believe the mayor is exceeding the power granted to him by the charter.”

The letter says ex officio status is a matter of statutory or charter mandate.

“The charter does not grant the mayor ex officio membership status on council committees nor does it grant him the power to vote,” the letter states. “He is seizing power he doesn’t have. Historically, it is not believed the mayor has done this.”

It adds that the city has a council-manager, weak mayor form of government.

“The charter states the mayor is ‘recognized as head of the city government for all legal and ceremonial purposes’ and ‘shall have no veto power,’” the letter states.

The letter makes five requests:

• That the qualifications of Knuckles and Jacquez be reconsidered and that they be removed from the P&Z Commission if found to be null and void

• That if Knuckles and/or Jacquez are removed, the PIC reconsider appointing Colony and/or Lebeck to serve out the remainder of their terms

• That council obtain a formal, independent legal advisory opinion as to whether the mayor is an ex officio member of council committees with voting rights

• That council consider an ordinance allowing the full council to approve members appointed to standing committees of council

• That council strive to approve appointments to P&Z that lead to a diverse commission that serves the public interest

Mayor responds

Reached today by phone, Schrag said he considers his committee appointments to be a point of pride.

“I do take commission and board assignments pretty seriously,” he said. “I worked hard to find folks, to vet folks and to look at folks that I believe represent the community best.”

He said his goal is to leave no seats vacant and keep all slots full of good people.

“When I started on this journey, I thought the mayor appointed everybody,” he said. “I was a little bit heartbroken to realize the mayor only gets a few, the manager gets some and the council gets some. I think the mayor should get all of them.”

He added, “If Jeff could wave a magic wand, that’s one thing he’d change – all appointments come from the mayor.”

Schrag said he feels very good about the quality of the three people appointed to P&Z. McClure worked for the chamber, but she worked for the Home Bbuilders Association as well.

“Home builders need climate, they need neighborhoods and they also deal with regulations all the time,” he said. “I think she sits in a nice sweet spot of understanding the importance of getting new housing stock to our community, and she’s incredibly smart.”

Souliere had served on a P&Z commission in a smaller city, he said, and Jacquez brings experience as a Realtor with an understanding of the importance of housing stock and new construction.

Schrag added that he had studied committee structure as set out in various ordinances, and he had also studied the charter. Many of the practices done previously were not dictated by charter, but by tradition.

He said there are four council standing committees that must exist and must have four members each.

“If I wanted to, I could put the same four people on every committee and call it a day,” he said.

But he also felt it was important for every council member to have some representation on a committee, and the only tradition he upheld was the idea that each member gets assigned to two committees.

“I’m going to go ahead and say it – I feel very good about how the committees are working right now,” he said.

Schrag added that before he changed committee processes, he sought direction from the city attorney, and all of his actions are in according with the city charter and the law.

This is a developing story.